Sargis Sargsian

In the third set of victory against Sargis Sargsian, Pete Sampras slipped to the grass and the ball rolled up the right leg of his shorts, giving Court 1 fans a glimpse of Sampras' humor. As he sat there, Sampras called a ball boy. "I said it was all his," Sampras said. "He can pick up the ball if he wants. "He declined. I guess he didn't want to go up my shorts." A British television station replayed the incident several times, and many fans seemed uneasy about the incident. Asked if some people might take the joke the wrong way, Sampras shrugged.

This is a big day for Amelie Mauresmo. All over France, tennis fans are chanting, "She's No. 1? She's No. 1?" And there she is, for the first time at the top of the WTA rankings this week, despite going out in the quarters of the U.S. Open. It happens sometimes. You back into something good. Mauresmo is 25, has played 27 Grand Slams and reached one final, at the 1999 Australian Open, where she lost to Martina Hingis, and becomes only the second woman, along with Kim Clijsters, to reach No. 1 without having won a major.

Five players can come out of the French Open with the coveted No. 1 ranking, but no one on the women's side can touch No. 1 Martina Hingis for now. The top five on the men's side are Pete Sampras, Petr Korda, Marcelo Rios, Patrick Rafter and Greg Rusedski. Sampras remains at No. 1 if (a) he reaches the second round, (b) Korda and Rios fail to reach the semis and (c) neither Rafter nor Rusedski win the title. Sampras can remain No. 1 under those conditions if he loses in the first round, depending on how may bonus points Korda and Rios accumulate.

Mike Bryan, half of the U.S. Davis Cup doubles team, has a serious hip injury that could require surgery, but he's planning to give it a great deal of rest between now and the semifinal tie against Belarus Sept. 24-26, in Charleston, S.C. He and his twin, Bob, are confident they can battle through the one match before Mike has to make a decision on having an operation. Mike has seen a couple of specialists, including Dr. Thomas Byrd of Nashville, Tenn., who has performed this laser labrum surgery on four other ATP pros, including Sargis Sargsian, who has had the best U.S. Open during this fortnight.

Mike Bryan, half of the U.S. Davis Cup doubles team, has a serious hip injury that could require surgery, but he's planning to give it a great deal of rest between now and the semifinal tie against Belarus Sept. 24-26, in Charleston, S.C. He and his twin, Bob, are confident they can battle through the one match before Mike has to make a decision on having an operation. Mike has seen a couple of specialists, including Dr. Thomas Byrd of Nashville, Tenn., who has performed this laser labrum surgery on four other ATP pros, including Sargis Sargsian, who has had the best U.S. Open during this fortnight.

At least for one day and, who knows, maybe all of next week, the big pop was back in Gustavo Kuerten's sweeping ground strokes. In two hours and 11 minutes of the best tennis he has played since his hip surgery in February, he took second-seeded Marat Safin apart, crashing winners from the baseline and passing the big Russian when he came to net as if he was a thousand-pound statue. This 6-4, 6-4, 7-5 victory in the second round was more like the three-time French Open champion who was rapidly developing into a top hardcourt player before his hip gave out near the end of last year.

This is a big day for Amelie Mauresmo. All over France, tennis fans are chanting, "She's No. 1? She's No. 1?" And there she is, for the first time at the top of the WTA rankings this week, despite going out in the quarters of the U.S. Open. It happens sometimes. You back into something good. Mauresmo is 25, has played 27 Grand Slams and reached one final, at the 1999 Australian Open, where she lost to Martina Hingis, and becomes only the second woman, along with Kim Clijsters, to reach No. 1 without having won a major.

Fresh off his victory Sunday in the Kroger St. Jude tournament, Andy Roddick is in line to be the No. 1 seed at next week's International Tennis Championships at the Delray Beach Tennis Center. Roddick, No. 13 in the ATP Tour's Entry System rankings, will be the top seed unless a higher-ranked player accepts the tournament's one remaining wild card. The tournament runs from March 4-10. Tournament officials were hoping to lure Marat Safin, a former U.S. Open champion and this year's Australian Open finalist.

The field for next week's International Tennis Championships was virtually completed Friday with the inclusion of two more Americans, making eight of the 28 players from the United States and prospects for more with the two-day qualifying that begins today. With Luis Horna of Peru withdrawing to concentrate on his clay court play, Brian Vahaly, a University of Virginia graduate from Atlanta, and Jeff Morrison of Tampa got in, joining fellow Americans Andy Roddick of Boca Raton, Jan-Michael Gambill, Vince Spadea of Boca Raton, Mardy Fish and wild cards Justin Gimelstob and Alex Kim, both of Delray Beach.

Andy Roddick has split with his longtime coach, Tarik Benhabiles, and will work with Andre Agassi's former coach, Brad Gilbert, during the grass-court season heading into Wimbledon, Roddick's agent Ken Meyerson said Tuesday. "I don't think the decision has been made to move forward with a new permanent coach," Meyerson said in a telephone interview. "The decision has been made to terminate the relationship professionally and amicably with Tarik, and I'm glad Brad has agreed to work with Andy the next three weeks."

At least for one day and, who knows, maybe all of next week, the big pop was back in Gustavo Kuerten's sweeping ground strokes. In two hours and 11 minutes of the best tennis he has played since his hip surgery in February, he took second-seeded Marat Safin apart, crashing winners from the baseline and passing the big Russian when he came to net as if he was a thousand-pound statue. This 6-4, 6-4, 7-5 victory in the second round was more like the three-time French Open champion who was rapidly developing into a top hardcourt player before his hip gave out near the end of last year.

In the third set of victory against Sargis Sargsian, Pete Sampras slipped to the grass and the ball rolled up the right leg of his shorts, giving Court 1 fans a glimpse of Sampras' humor. As he sat there, Sampras called a ball boy. "I said it was all his," Sampras said. "He can pick up the ball if he wants. "He declined. I guess he didn't want to go up my shorts." A British television station replayed the incident several times, and many fans seemed uneasy about the incident. Asked if some people might take the joke the wrong way, Sampras shrugged.

Five players can come out of the French Open with the coveted No. 1 ranking, but no one on the women's side can touch No. 1 Martina Hingis for now. The top five on the men's side are Pete Sampras, Petr Korda, Marcelo Rios, Patrick Rafter and Greg Rusedski. Sampras remains at No. 1 if (a) he reaches the second round, (b) Korda and Rios fail to reach the semis and (c) neither Rafter nor Rusedski win the title. Sampras can remain No. 1 under those conditions if he loses in the first round, depending on how may bonus points Korda and Rios accumulate.

It won't be known for two months whether Martina Navratilova will be fined for her outburst at the chair umpire in her women's doubles loss two days ago. Navratilova's shot was ruled out on match point, giving Chanda Rubin and Pam Shriver a 6-3, 7-5 second-round win. Navratilova thought the ball was in and, while her opponents waited at the net to shake hands, Martina shouted at Laura Ceccarelli of Italy for not overruling. Finally, Navratilova shook hands, then slammed her racket against the umpire's chair.

Vince Spadea of Boca Raton, trying to crack the top 20 by the end of the season, has a good chance to be seeded No. 1 at the International Tennis Championships, which begin at the Delray Beach Tennis Center on Sept. 13, the day after the conclusion of the U.S. Open. Seedings for the 32-draw ATP tournament will be based on the rankings that come out next Monday, but if they were made today Spadea, at No. 24, would be No. 1, followed by fellow American Mardy Fish (28) and Mario Ancic of Croatia (29)